


Come Reignite This Hopeful Flame

by lj_todd



Series: Some Legends Are Told [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Budding Romance, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9089452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lj_todd/pseuds/lj_todd
Summary: He had been Al Sayf for time near immemorial.
And then everything changed.
All because of one skinny, yet strong, Omega.





	

He had been Al Sayf for time near immemorial. 

Since long before the current Ra's al Ghul had held the title of Demon's Head.

There were times when his life before the League, before taking on the mantle of The Sword of the League, were not but hazy memories. Faded from centuries of life. If one could call an existence such as his a life. If it were it was hardly his any longer. It had ceased to be his the day he had knelt and accepted the mantle of Al Sayf. He had been chosen above all others. Selected by man who had born the mantle before him. Chosen as carefully as the next Ra's al Ghul was chosen.

Before him there had not been a new Sword since the days the League was first founded. The days when Nanda Parbat had still been fresh and new and full of a grace and beauty that called many to her mountainous doorsteps.

He had come to the League as many before and after him had.

Lost and broken.

Seeking the means to fight injustice. Seeking the means to bring order and balance to a world torn apart by criminals and their ilk.

In Nanda Parbat he had found a home when he had thought such would forever be lost to him. He found a family. A family he had watched, as the years slipped by, fade one by one to dust and decay. Brothers and sisters, countless over the centuries, gone. Lost in the line of duty or simple age. It helped, in a way, to harden his heart. To be as the one before him had been. Aloof and cold. Distant even from his fellow League members. Attachments of any kind led only to pain. And they would until the day came when he chose another to take his place.

So he became not but a shadow in a world of shadows.

He did not befriend the new initiates as he once had. Did not form bonds or attachments to them. Taking to heart his mentor's words when he had taken on the name of Al Sayf.

_"It is your duty now to safeguard the League. To uphold its traditions and laws. You will take no mate. Father no children. Your very life is now the League itself. Not one person. Nor a group of them. For remember, child, you will watch them all die. One way or another. Cut your heart from your chest, cast it aside, and do your duty. It is yours alone now."_

And so it was.

Al Sayf became a ghost story even among the members of the League. He kept to the Tower of the Sword, his own personal sanctuary, aiding in training initiates only when requested by Ra's al Ghul himself. He tended to his duty as he had been taught. He was justice and death to any who threatened the existence of the League. Be they outsiders or members. He lost count of how many lives he had taken in the name of his duty. He had grown numb to it all. He lived in the darkness so he became it.

And then everything changed.

Nyssa, after being sent to determine the truth of a rumour whispered into the Demon's ear, returned. And she did not return alone.

She brought a boy with her.

His face was still young but Al Sayf saw the pain, the grief and guilt, in those pale eyes. Eyes that spoke of one who had seen far too much death and suffering.

Ra's, of course, judged the boy, weighing his words, his desire to be part of the League, but even if the Demon's Head had refused the boy something in Al Sayf had woken. Had taken one look at this boy, this thin yet strong looking Omega, and had taken interest. Even if Ra's had turned him away Al Sayf would have taken him as an apprentice. Would have argued that it was time to train a new Sword. Even if, in truth, he would not have chosen the boy for the mantle.

Al Sayf listened as, after deciding the boy was worthy, Ra's asked for his name.

"Oliver," was the quiet reply given. "Oliver Queen."

Al Sayf, curious to see what Oliver Queen might become, watched over his training. He saw the young man had, at least, been taught some basic fighting manoeuvres even if he was not very skilled with them. But when Ra's child, his eldest daughter, placed a bow in the man's hands a change seemed to overcome him. While his hand-to-hand combat would need honing it was clear that someone had taken the time, the effort, to ensure Oliver Queen could handle a bow.

It was clear, with the bow, the young man was lethal.

But to be a true member of the League the Omega would need to be lethal in all aspects.

And so Al Sayf did what he had not done in generations.

He moved out of the shadows, watching as Al-Owal spat out yet another insult against Oliver's form, before drawing the attention of all present by clearing his throat.

"Perhaps," he mused in a quiet rumble, seeing the surprise as it danced through Al-Owal's eyes. "The pup requires a different teaching approach."

Al-Owal looked ready to argue, to remind Al Sayf of his position as teacher, but whether it was the look on his face or perhaps the glance Ra's sent their way, he eventually nodded and stepped back, allowing Al Sayf to step into the training ring with Oliver.

"You have strength," he pointed out, watching as Oliver settled into a stance clearly meant for someone bulkier than himself. It was, with proper application, a formidable intimation tactic. But it would not work for Oliver's more lean frame. "But you do not use it to your advantage."

Al Sayf then proceeded to show Oliver just what he meant.

After driving the Omega to the ground, for the sixth time in a row, the Alpha rumbled, standing over him.

"You leave yourself open," Al Sayf pointed out as Oliver stared up at him. "Do that when confronting a true enemy and it _will_ get you killed."

"I'll keep that in mind," Oliver panted before, unexpectedly, swinging out with his legs, catching Al Sayf behind his knees and dropping the Alpha to the ground, grinning almost triumphantly the entire while.

A hush fell over the room as all watched, waited, for Al Sayf's retaliation. Many, those who had served the League long enough to learn of the Alpha's fierce reputation, were prepared to have to step in, to protect the young Omega from the fury that he had just called down upon himself but all, including Al Sayf himself, were surprised when, instead of an angry snarl or vicious roar, the Alpha began to laugh, a grin spreading across his face.

"Clever brat," Al Sayf rumbled, swatting at Oliver's knee and Oliver chuckled, only to climb to his feet when Al-Owal barked for training to continue.

After that Al Sayf would find excuses to be near the younger man. He would take meals with him. Would offer simple corrections to his stance or movements during his training. And, one evening, after finding Oliver sitting along in the training room, having been chased from sleep by the nightmares that would, for some time to come, haunt him, he opened his private chambers atop the Tower of the Sword to the young Omega, spending more nights then he could count with Oliver sleeping in his bed while he merely sat there, silently watching over him.

Some nights, when neither were able to sleep, they would talk.

Oliver told Al Sayf of his past. How Nyssa had found him on Lian Yu and how he had come to be stranded on the island.

Al Sayf, in turn, told Oliver how he had been chosen to be the Sword of the League. How he had, to accept the title, given up more than any other League member, save perhaps Ra's, would ever understand.

Al Sayf, old as he was, was no fool.

He recognized the swirl emotion that Oliver woke in him. He recognized it even if he did not wish to acknowledge it.

It was only after Oliver was nearly killed by an enemy of the League, after Al Sayf had sat, vigil through the long night, waiting to see if the young Omega would pull through, that his mind and heart finally found agreement.

He would court Oliver.

And, gods willing, he would be the first Sword to take a mate despite his vows.


End file.
